About AJS

The Association for Jewish Studies is a learned society and professional organization whose mission is to advance research and teaching in Jewish Studies at colleges, universities, and other institutions of higher learning, and to foster greater understanding of Jewish Studies scholarship among the wider public.

Membership

With more than 1900 individual members and over 70 institutional members, the AJS provides an intellectual forum for university faculty, graduate students, independent scholars, museum and related professionals, and all those interested in the scholarly field of Jewish Studies.

Annual Conference

With more than 1100 attendees, over 190 sessions, a major book exhibit of leading publishers, cultural programming, and gala banquet, the AJS Conference is the largest annual gathering of Jewish Studies scholars in the world.

Publications & Research

The publications of AJS are leading forums for exploring Jewish studies scholarship and critical issues in Jewish studies methodology and pedagogy: its peer-reviewed scholarly journal AJS Review, its magazine AJS Perspectives, and its e-newsletter AJS News.

Program Evaluation Best Practices Guide

Program evaluation (both internal and external, qualitative and quantitative), during all phases of a project, is an effective tool to help learn about and improve programs. The following tips are meant to help guide you through the evaluation process. A strong evaluation typically combines quantitative information to identify audiences and major trends, and qualitative information to offer depth of understanding and a story behind the numbers.

Quantitative Evaluation

Attendance numbers for each event are required in the mid-year and final reports. In order to collect the most accurate numbers:

Consider requiring RSVPs.; These lists give you free demographic and contact information (names/e-mail addresses/phone numbers). In addition to giving you a sense of potential attendance numbers, RSVPs reflect a certain level of interest and commitment from attendees.

Do not close RSVP lists for free events. One study suggests that often about 35% of people end up as “no shows.” Plus, additional people may come who did not RSVP.

A combination of paper and on-line surveys can be effective methods to get feedback from attendees--we encourage you to utilize both. Successful surveys usually depend on two elements: the quality of the questions (precise, comprehensible, and easy to answer) and the response rate (finding a response pool that reflects the size and demographic scope of your audience).

The following are some suggested survey questions. We understand that you know your community and institution best, so please feel free to use your own questions.

How did you get to this event and how long did it take you to get here?

How did you learn about this program?

What interested you in attending this program?

Have you been to other programs related to Jewish history, literature, or culture within the past year? If yes, what kind of programs (lectures, performance, etc.) were they and where were the programs held?

Have you attended any university events before? If so, were any of them produced or sponsored by the Jewish Studies Program?

*Was the subject matter presented in an interesting and accessible way?

*Did you learn something new? If so, what did you learn?

Which part of the program was most interesting/compelling to you and why?

*Based on your experience, what is the likelihood you would attend another event sponsored by the Jewish studies program?

Qualitative

In addition to surveys, we strongly encourage you to supplement your evaluation by direct observations and speaking with attendees the day of your event and/or in follow up phone interviews to collect one-on-one feedback. Observations and quotes from interviews can bring to life attendance numbers and give a sense of the actual impact an event had on individuals.

As event coordinator, attend all programs. Walk the space during the program and note the audiences’ expressions and body language.

Include/schedule time for informal conversation between the attendees and the speakers after the formal programming.

Listen to conversations after an event and talk with attendees to collect anecdotal feedback.

Ask attendees what they got from the program and what else they’d like to see in future events.

Do not be shy about soliciting praise, for instance, you may ask: “Did you enjoy your experience with us?”

Before beginning, make a plan of what feedback you are looking for—have your questions written out. Be sure to keep other interesting stories for potential future fundraising or marketing.

Recruit the help of others (faculty, staff, students) to conduct interviews—this will increase your ability to obtain more stories.

Internal Program Evaluation

Try to make evaluation a continuous process. Before your programs begin, take time to articulate your goals: What are you trying to learn, change, or achieve with this program? Create an evaluation team and make individual and group reflection a regular part of your discussions. Then, after each event, conduct a “lessons learned” meeting so you can adjust your programs/style as needed, based on audience and presenter feedback. Consider these and other questions when conducting an internal evaluation.

Did this program help you achieve your mission?

To what degree did the program achieve its program goals and objectives?

How would you evaluate the academic quality of the program?

How would you describe the audience’s response to the program?

How would you assess the program’s impact on the audience?

Is the target audience being reached? If not, then why?

Was there an increase or decrease in how many people attended? Did more people attend LHSJP programs than other programs you have produced in the past? Did attendees return for multiple events in the series?

How did your projected budget compare with the actual budget? How was the programming timing? Was there appropriate staffing? Were AV/technology needs covered? Was the venue a good match? Were there any logistical challenges? How effective was the marketing and outreach?

Ask guest presenter(s) for feedback: “Did you like the format? Were your needs met?”